pabnj, I've been with the TPF since Abel started it way back when. I only use them as an example because they have over 20,000 members and I have never seen trolls dancing around that forum. When I joined dpreview back in 1999 it was a lot like this place and then the trolls tore the place to shreds.

We have seen couple of shots posted by our admin super being lately.
As for rules I am for them being published and enforced by our good old adamz and maybe couple more moderators.
I am not sure deletion of all locked posts is a good thing but maybe we should define a rules defining more offensive ones that should be deleted, not that I remember any such post here.

mb - You don't remember them as I've managed to delete them faster than You log in :D

as for moderators, indeed we lack at least one - preferably two/three, if it would be up to me, I would go for Niko, Gentoo and Monty.

Niko - You are right with my location... as for that I'm still shocked that I haven't seen any "kielbasa" jokes so far :)
BTW: can You copy paste the rules from TPF over here? so we could work on them and present it to admin for approval

A guy goes into a store and tells the clerk, "I'd like some Polish sausage."

The clerk looks at him and says, "Are you Polish?"

The guy, clearly offended, says, "Well, yes I am. But let me ask you something." If I had asked for Italian sausage would you ask me if I was Italian? Or if I had asked for German bratwurst, would you ask me if I was German? Or if I asked for a kosher hot dog would you ask me if I was Jewish? Or if I had asked for a taco would you ask if I was Mexican? Would ya, huh? Would ya?"

The clerk says, "Well, no."

With deep self-righteous indignation, the guy says, "Well, all right then, why did you ask me if I'm Polish just because I ask for Polish sausage?"

3. Be considerate & professional at all times to other members on the forum.

4. Photojournalism
Photojournalism is posted for discussion of the photography, the methods used to acquire images and media credentials, and techniques of coverage. They are NOT open for debate about the subject covered.

5. Courteous Criticisms
When critiquing posted photographs, please do it in an adult, considerate and professional manner. Do not insult the photographer or simply state "it sucks" etc. Give a reason as to what you may feel he/she could have done a little differently in order to get better results. Also, feel free to offer some positives about the image itself that you did like, this will inform the photographer what worked well in your opinion. We can all learn a lot from each other here so let's be professional about it.

6. Artistic nudity
Photographs which include tasteful and/or artistic nudity are allowed to be posted in the Human Form section ONLY. In order to gain access to this section, members must join the Registered Users Plus group by Editing Their Usergroup. Photos which are extremely graphic and fall in under pornographic material will not be allowed anywhere on the forum.

7. All levels welcomed
Everyone from a very beginner to a seasoned professional photographer is welcomed here on the forum. With that being said all members are asked to be considerate to a newbie when they ask questions that you may feel are "stupid". We were all beginners once in this hobby of ours so lets keep that in mind and help people are wanting to learn about photography. Negative comments can be a complete turnoff for a newbie and he/she may decide to never return.

8. NO brand bashing
We can all get along better without the typical brand bashing that takes place on other photo forums.

10. Commercial Advertising
Commercial advertising of any sort is not allowed. This includes software developers, manufacturers, online retailers, other photo forums, local stores, studio rentals, services, web designers etc. Commercial company names and such can not be included in your signatures as that is free advertisement the more you post. If you would like information on how to advertise here on the website feel free to contact us using This Link.

11. Workshop Promotion
We have had to update our stance on how workshops are listed here on the forum. Please refer to the complete listing of Workshop Promotion Rules as they have their own separate set of rules in addition to these Forum Rules. Texas based workshop rules located HERE. National based workshop rules located HERE.

12. Photo Studio Promotion
Photo Studios available for rent by members are allowed within This Section but the owner must contact the Administrator using This Form for approval and requirements prior to posting it on the forum.

13. Account Suspension
Any attempt to circumvent a Temporary Account Suspension by re-registering another name and/or any other method will lead into the offending member to be permanently banned.

14. Sharing Account Info
Any members giving their account information to any Banned members will have their account permanently banned as well. No Exceptions.

15. Price Policing
Price Policing in the Buy/Sell Section is prohibited. If a price seems too high on a particular item, either ignore it and move one or you can kindly PM the seller and mention that might be the case and let them be aware of it. Either way, calling out a member publicly is not tolerated.

16. Editing other members photos
Members may not edit other member's photos without their prior consent. Members may include that it is ok to edit their photos by placing a statement within their Profile signature. All edited photos will be removed if original photog hasn't approved the edit.

17. Thread closing challenge
Any member who has a problem with why a particular thread has been locked and/or deleted must contact the ADMIN and/or the moderator who locked the thread privately through a PM. Creating new threads to vent your frustrations with the closing of a thread will only result in that thread's deletion as well.

18. Models, Modeling Agents & Soon to be Brides
This is first and foremost a Photography Forum, Models, Modeling Agents and Soon to be Brides are not allowed to solicit photographers. There are plenty of other means to which a photographer can be found that will suit your needs.

19. Buy/Sell Forum
Members must have at least 25 posts on the forum before they are allowed to post a new thread in the Buy/Sell Section of the website. Threads created elsewhere in order to circumvent the rule will be deleted immediately. Also members that post a bunch of one liners and such to pad their post count just to get 25 posts will have them deleted. This is to ensure scammers from jumping online to try to bait someone into buying something they may or may not really own. Members with less than 25 posts can still post replies to those threads in order to purchase items from others. All For Sale listings in this section MUST accompany an asking price for the item. If you are unsure of what you can get on an item simply set a price and add O.B.O. (Or Best Offer).

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The Offense Structure

1st Offense: A formal warning will be sent via PM
Upon a members first offense, a PM will be sent to them informing them of the rule violation and they will also be informed of this Offense Structure.

2nd Offense: Account Suspension for 14 days
Upon a members second offense, the member will have their account suspended for 14 days. Any attempt to circumvent this suspension by creating extra accounts on the forum will directly lead into a Permanent Ban from the forum.

3rd Offense: Permanent Ban from the forum
Upon a members third offense, the member will be Permanently Banned from the forum and will never be welcomed back.

I am relatively new here, and love reading what you everyone has to say, and would hate to see these forums go down the DPReview route. Since we don't have the moderators now, why don't we institute at least temporarily an e-mail address such as moderator(at)nikonrumorsdotcom so members can send in offenders. Would this make it easier for now, or does this already exist, or I am just dumb and missed it.

Over on the canon rumors forums they've got a more condensed set of rules too. The guys and I poke good fun at each other and they don't seem to mind that their highest ranking members are a Nikon user named Niko Doby and a Pentax carrying administrator :^)